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vehicles with trailers were observed at either store on the study days. This was despite the fact that a large number of customers used the lumber yard. Conversations with store staff revealed that Saturdays typically see mostly residential customers and that the contractors typically frequent the stores on weekdays. It is on those days that employees report seeing vehicles towing trailers. Even so, the overall proportion oftrai]ers is apparently small compared to the overall number of parked cars. As mentioned before, the lumber yards are built to accommodate vehicles parking and turning around with trailers. Customer Activity During the same time that the parking inventories were being conducted, a constant count of customers entering the store was being collected. This count included every person entering the store, though a distinction was made between visiting customers and visiting children. Specifically, visiting customers are defined as adults with purchasing power that visit the store (chi]dren who accompany their parents do not have purchasing power and are therefore not considered visiting customers). To more closely correspond with potentia] transactions, two adults entering the store as a couple were counted as "one customer," The number of visiting customers entering the store relates directly to the number of parking spaces occupied in the parking lot. More specifically, the number of customers entering the store during successive hours of the day combined with the average time customers spend in the store results in the number of vehicles parked in the parking lot at any given time. Table 2 summarizes the peak hour of customer activity and the peak hour of parking demand for each study store. Table 2 - Peak Hours of Customer Activitv and ParkinR Demand Customers Entering the Store During Peak Hour* 133 125 Store # Store Name Peak Hour of Customers Entering the Store* Time of Peak Parking Demand Parking Spaces Occupied at Peak 703 MONTEBELLO 8 to 9 AM 705 POMONA 11 to 12 noon "Excludes children. Couples were counted as "1 customer." 2PM 3 PM 88 99 As shown in Table 2, the peak hour of customer activity at each store (entering the store) occurred before noon. Whi]e one store experienced its peak between 8 and 9 AM, the other experienced its peak between] ] AM and ]2 noon. However, both expenenced theIr heavIest pen ods of customer activity between 8 AM and ]2 noon (see Table 3). In contrast, the peak time of parking occupancy occurred in the afternoon (2 PM at one store, and 3 PM at the other). In genera], the peak parking demand occurs two to three hours after the end ofthe peak morning period of customer activity. Due to the complexity of the relationship between the number of customers entering the store and the time each spends in the store, there is no direct correlation between number of customers entering the store and number of vehicles parked in the parking lot. Instead, the peak parking occupancy is typically correlated with the amount of daily business a store transacts. Detai]ed counts of customers entering the store and the corresponding number of parking spaces occupied for each hour ofthe study are presented in Appendix B. In terms of customers and transactions, if a visiting customer purchases something in the store, he/she becomes a transaction. (Contractors' Warehouse's data lists transactions as "customers," but Parking Study of Two Contractors Warehouse Stores - Final Report Page 7 A-15 31A-33